KFSR (90.7
FM) is a
student-run college radio station
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...
licensed to and owned by
California State University, Fresno
California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...
in
Fresno, California
Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...
. KFSR broadcasts a
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
format, including jazz, blues and other music genres.
History and public events
Radio station KFSR was founded in 1982 at
California State University, Fresno
California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...
. The primary format at that time was jazz in the morning and mostly new wave music from noon until 2:00am. Weekend programming was varied, including country/western, soul/rap, and public affairs programming. The station also aired many FSU sporting events. A typical broadcast week could include as many as 30 volunteer student announcers/DJs, mostly from the university's Radio-Television Department. A single-page promotional newsletter, The Dead Air Diary, was printed from 1983–85 and distributed at local record stores.
For its ten-year anniversary in 1992, the station compiled and produced ''A Decade of Homicide, Raisins and Heat'', a collection of songs by local Fresno rock bands.
The album included an assorted mix of musical styles including
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
,
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
,
ska
Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...
,
Thrash metal
Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...
, and
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
, but not
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
.
In 1994, the university's campus station aired coverage of Fresno State volleyball, basketball, and softball home games.
In 2002, the station director was Matthew Boam who went by the nickname "The Bucket".
The station celebrated its twentieth anniversary by holding a reunion for former KFSR members.
Focusing on its role is to promote local music, the station put together a two-day concert to celebrate KFSR and celebrate local musicians.
The station also produced a 21-track CD of local music to coincide with the bands appearing at the concert.
The station began holding membership drives in 2003, as well as a community affairs program about air quality.
In 2005, local musicians came together to hold a three-day concert to raise funds for KFSR. In December 2006, the station began to air the syndicated ''
A Prairie Home Companion
''A Prairie Home Companion'' was a weekly radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor that aired live from 1974 to 2016. In 2016, musician Chris Thile took over as host, and the successor show was eventually renamed ''Live from He ...
'', hosted by
Garrison Keillor
Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (; born August 7, 1942) is an American author, singer, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality. He created the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) show ''A Prairie Home Companion'' (called ''Garrison Keillor's Radio ...
.
See also
*
Campus radio
Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...
*
List of college radio stations in the United States
Following are radio stations in the United States of America affiliated with colleges and universities that are regarded as college (student-run) stations. The listings include links to Wikipedia pages on the stations, their parent institution ...
References
External links
Official KFSR website
* (
Guide to reading History Cards)
{{California college radio
FSR
Radio stations established in 1982
FSR
1982 establishments in California